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By Margaret Grisdela, Legal Expert Connections, Inc.

What is your typical response if you are unhappy with a service provider? Say, for example, that your real estate agent did a poor job of selling your home or your local auto mechanic was late in completing a repair job. Chances are that instead of lodging a formal complaint, you simply switch providers and tell your friends about the poor service you received.

The same thing can happen in your law firm. Ignorance of client dissatisfaction can seriously harm your business. One perennial client complaint is failure to return phone calls. Research indicates that an unhappy client will complain to nine or more people. Ironically, a client complaint can positively influence your practice if you identify the cause of unhappiness quickly and take steps to repair the situation.

Conducting an annual client satisfaction survey and/or an “end of matter” questionnaire are effective ways to reinforce client relations. Try to identify key client expectations, so you have a better likelihood of satisfactory performance. Chances are that your client is grading you also. Here are several ways to conduct a survey:

• In-person meetings are recommended for your best accounts, since the interviewer can not only hear how the client responds to a question but also observe their body language. This research can be conducted by an experienced independent consultant or an impartial representative from within the firm.
• Telephone surveys conducted by an independent third party offer a value-added benefit of having a qualified interviewer probe for subtle differences in satisfaction levels.
• Internet-based surveys are becoming increasingly popular, due to the convenience of online response forms and the immediate electronic availability of respondent data.
• Traditional paper-based surveys can be circulated by mail, email or fax. These tend to be cumbersome and expensive because of the tedious production, distribution and data entry requirements.

The survey format you select may vary with the size of the account. You may choose to conduct in-person interviews for your largest and/or strategically important accounts, for example, while using a less expensive method for smaller clients. Speak to a research expert to help determine the approach that will work best to capture the quality of client feedback you seek to effectively evaluate satisfaction levels.

Survey results will provide you with important insights into your areas of strength and weakness. Your initial survey can serve as a “benchmark” for measuring future improvement.On a related note, an in-house employee survey may also yield some productive suggestions for improvement.


About the Author: Margaret Grisdela is the Founder and President of Legal Expert Connections, Inc., a legal marketing firm specializing in marketing and business development in the legal and litigation support  markets. You can reach her at mg@legalexpertconnections.com.